Hate Hatao Right Now! CJP launches new app to check spread of hate and inflammatory speech
22, Jan 2019
From their inception, Communalism Combat (Sabrang India) and Citizens for Justice and Peace, have been committed to combating hate speech, given how it often incites violence against marginalised communities.
From our on-ground work through dialogue and Mohalla Committees to winning the NASSCOM Award for our technology driven Peace Map initiative, we have aimed to constantly forge innovative moves to pre-empt the spill-over of targeted violence.
Taking our commitment to the next level, we are launching Hate Hatao, a revolutionary new app designed to fight hate, that can be used by anyone with a smartphone! Hate Hatao will enable you to report to us instances of hate speech, threats and hate crimes, with the appropriate evidence, such as a screenshot, video or a picture.
CJP will then take this up as a complain to authorities such as the National Human Rights Commission, Press Council, National Broadcasters Association, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms or law enforcement agencies. We will also lodge FIRs and pursue the cases in court. The user will then receive real-time updates on the status of their submitted report.
We will also track such instances and their escalation helping chart how hate builds. This will help us predict and hopefully prevent possible outbreaks of actual violent conflict. Hate Hatao is part of CJP’s Hate Watch campaign that spreads awareness and understanding about inciteful speech that is so often used to target marginalised groups through violence.
The launch announcement was made at Netizens for Democracy, a day long conclave organised by our sister organisation Sabrang India to discuss how secular and liberal voices can unite on social media and help bring about sustainable social change in order to strengthen our democracy. The app launch announcement was made by veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, All India Kisan Sabha President Dr. Ashok Dhawale, actor Jaaved Jaaferi and CJP Secretary Teesta Setalvad.
Explaining the motivation behind coming up with the app, Setalvad said, “Our mission is to create a committed band of peace volunteers on the ground, trained to spot stages that build up to targeted violence and its spillover into blood on the streets.”
The app will be available on Google Playstore from January 30, the anniversary of one of India’s greatest hate crimes… the murder of Mahatma Gandhi.
Sardesai congratulated the initiative saying, “I’m glad that in the 150th year of Gandhi’s birth, CJP is launching the Hate Hatao app because Gandhi spent his life fighting hate.”
